ORANGEBURG, S.C. — MUSC Health of Orangeburg announced Thursday they are expanding their coverage in the area.
The goal is to keep patients local.
"It is a new day for health at MUSC Orangeburg," CEO Walter Bennett III said.
Bennett says the hospital is on the verge of expansion. Part of this expansion includes growing its team of OBGYNs. Their team has five providers, including three doctors, a midwife, and a nurse practitioner.
They're in the process of recruiting more staff. It's part of a broader effort to bring more healthcare to Orangeburg.
"We want to keep care close to home here in Orangeburg and Calhoun counties and the only way for us to do that is to impact the lives that we serve," he said.
In addition, they are also adding two podiatric surgeons to their team to provide faster treatment for foot and ankle conditions. This week they also launched a new STEMI program allowing them to treat patients with severe heart attacks. Hospital leaders say this will help them reduce the need for referrals to other cities such as Columbia and Charleston.
"Anything dealing with the heart, you need to get somewhere that can help you as soon as possible so by being able to launch those programs, we're able to keep those patients here with great quality care here in Orangeburg," said Bennett.
The hospital is also extending its hours for orthopedic services and developing a new sports medicine program in partnership with local high schools in the Orangeburg County School District.
"We want to ensure that any service that we feel that will make an impact in Orangeburg, we bring those services here."